Disco

this is myth-making

the second you take the mid-section of "I'm a Man" out of context and start adding stuff to it, I don't think 'disco before disco' is overstatement?

Another story is when (Levan) first played the Peech Boys' "Life is something special". He teased everyone by playing bits and pieces of it mixed into other records throughout the whole evening until he finally decided to play the whole thing. But a "standard" Levan mix would usually last for some 15-20 minutes with added extracts of other songs and sound effects. - http://www.disco-disco.com/tributes/larry.shtml

^^ this description is what I'm on the hunt for

though it is possible that because I'm ignorant of the source materials, I can't hear the number of layers going on in the mixes I've heard because they're so seamless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZceQEwJwYrA&feature=related

no-fi recording, but you can hear him slipcueing -- hard entrances on each new song, not much in the way of crossfades, but right on the downbeat, so it doesn't even matter when the bpm changes slightly, the beat just keeps going

rented the DVD of 'Klute' tonight to see this, there's a 1971 documentary on the making of the film with wider shots of the Sanctuary that give you a better sense of what the room was really like, I love that it was converted over from a cathedral

more a church than a cathedral, but the sanctuary site is still there on w.43rd street. it's been a theatre for quite awhile now. in the early 2000's I walked past almost every day on my way to work when "the vagina monologues" played there. dig that asymmetry/lol at the irony etc.

there was a heart-rending interview w/francis grasso in the new york times around 2003, just before he died. seemed like his life caught up w/him.

i need a track id, guys. a classic disco song i heard in a Daniel Wang set that goes "who do you love?! oh yes it's you, boy. i really should know. i thought i really should know. who do you love?! there was another. but now it's you, boy."

thanks!

Hi, Dan. It's THP Orchestra - Who Do You Love.

Disco is all kinds of amazing. The Full length disco albums thread on here got me into so many records that I now love that I'd never heard of. It's a shame so much is out of print though.

Tantra's Double Album anyone?

I think I have Number 1 In Heaven By Sparks to thank for getting me into disco.

anyone know the name of this track? thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFXNJzwAe60

So can anyone recommend some good melancholic disco. Some times I'm just not in the mood for cheery uplifitingness, I need some top-notch weepy, emotional music that's still good to dance to.

On an unrelated note, ILM needs some of this, for reasons that I hope should be self-evident
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GZulX2184A&feature=related

Oh and durr, that's an instrumental version of Mascara - Baja. A truly excellent track at that.

definitely one of the more inspired jürgen korduletsch productions.

i find the three degrees "year of decision" as melancholy as I find "dirty ol' man" uplifting - but that may be just me.
obvious answer - Marvin Gaye - "here, my dear" (LP) which includes the discoliscious "funky space reincarnation" and some other, remorseful tunes with wah wah.

@EDB: Phyllis Hyman - Loving You, Losing You

some recent discoveries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zy2MQJ6Ew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV9H7bw9M3Q

I always liked uptempo Euro style disco, but it's been a quest to find it. Anyone know more stuff like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9SWr0NebxE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihe4RTDwiwI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvX78gKhv-Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpHrKIOFPnw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5rHrICKj64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGF7GF0p6ek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOSupwhM-H8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnfWSN4pId4

That Azoto track is massively different from the only track I heard by them before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDj5MwKpNrE

Good stuff, always dug the Azoto tracks. I just stumbled on these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCS50QaH_j8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbLB4UEFvw

http://www.discogs.com/Loud-E-Dance-Your-Pants-Off-Vol-1-2-3/release/784133

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGADOwcACBY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X6mm2puwxs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-pFJO8u90c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnTusbeoTX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTFCwKvlKZo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eVS6K_6tP8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsvkWokUqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7GJ7W92YDY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEmwLZeRZy4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui2V1n17x4I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMaWR9-tuy0

Never tire of this double A side.

can you guys recommend some books about disco? preferably something pretty comprehensive, american-focussed, or some oral history. looking at buying "love saves the day" by tim lawrence right now, looks pretty good, have any of you read it or recommend something else? thx

Turn The Beat Around by Peter Shapiro is really good

The Disco Files 1973-1978, mainly composed of Vince Aletti's weekly disco columns for Record World, a trade magazine - all of them, in fact. Tons of inside dope from a scenester who knew what he was talking about. Has the advantage of the immediacy factor, having been written in the moment. Also works as a reference book, complete with hundreds of contemporary playlists from DJs nationwide.

^^^^

sounds perfect ty

Disco Files is great as a time capsule and as a source for obscure track recommendations but it doesn't really draw a narrative or fill out any background on the various characters that pass through the weekly reports. Love Saves the Day is probably my favourite music book ever so I'd definitely say pick that one up first.

i would argue that Love Saves The Day imposes a narrative on the raw data presented in Disco Files. well that's a little too strong but LSTD views disco thru a (post) modern lens while DF simply reports what happened as it happened and gains a cumulative shape or forms a rough arc by the end. LSTD definitely fleshes out the personalities of the various characters and is easy/enjoyable to read VS pouring thru DF's myriad details.

bottom line: both great, read em in tandem for the full picture

'love saves the day' and 'disco files' are great. i honestly don't like 'turn the beat around' as much as those two but ppl rep for it really hard so maybe im just dumb for preferring LSTD

Definitely agree that DF and LTSD work well together and you shouldn't read *just* LSTD to get the full picture, but for me DF has too much "X is a new release by artist Y (who you may remember released Z last year) that has been picked up by DJ A from club B and it's a great 10-minute epic in a Donna Summer style" - an entire week's "file" can be made up of this kind of thing. I at least would have wanted more on the whos and whys if DF had been my entry point.

yeah once you have the context DF becomes the more interesting book i think but if you're just trying to get a narrative start w/ LSTD

ctrl-f "disco files"
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7967-words-and-music-our-60-favorite-music-books/

crtl-f "turn the beat"
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7967-words-and-music-our-60-favorite-music-books/3/

/shameless

Skimming this thread for some random listening this morning. That Bear Essense track, "The Big Hurt" is so amazing I had to hear it twice! Moroder-ish synths, huge string swells and a very dramatic, over-the-top, showtune-like vocal. It's like Shirley Bassey fronting the Alan Parsons project.

bottom line: both great, read em in tandem for the full picture

k cool will do this, w/ a heavy youtube supplement for primary sources

calling all disco aficionados. I'm listening to a daniel wang mix and I wondered what's the song that goes "devil man, you make a devil woman out of me." and then there's an evil laugh sound or something. other lyrics include: "burns my body...corrupts the mind"

thanks!

research suggests that it is "devil woman" by fire and ice, available on this lalo schifrin-produced lp (and on a 12"): http://www.discogs.com/Fire-And-Ice-Fire-And-Ice/master/256361

you might confirm by listening to it at the end of this mix on youtube: http://youtu.be/RHVW2UR6mnU

i did listen to it and it sounded like a wangy track, but i didn't notice the lyrics or evil laugh sound you mention.

unfortunately that's not the one, but thanks a lot for the effort! you can hear the track here: http://www.mixesdb.com/w/2002-05-22_-_Daniel_Wang_@_The_Speakerteas,_Mazzo,_Amsterdam it's the first track.

definitely not the one! this one, however, is it: http://www.discogs.com/Love-Connection-Hot-Blood-Hot-Nature-Woman/release/1162055

hear it here: http://youtu.be/o1O_chHIuWU

research skillz, bitch.

oh yes, i realize i have listened to this set before. do you know the awesome instrumental party jam with the insistent synth riff coming in around 19:30? been after than one for a while...

I gotta hand it to you, mate. what keywords did you use?

no, I don't know about that one, sorry.

on related note, why does daniel wang rarely keep the beats matched?

I assume it's "hot blood?" I thought she sang "hot love"

yeah i think it's "hot blood". i frequently mistake the lyrics on these jams - for a long time i though madleen kane's "forbidden love" was "gorilla", lol.

in my disc-jocking experience it can be hard to match the beats on these records for a couple of reasons - A) a lot of the jams with live drums vary in tempo dramatically, so you have to ride the pitch control to keep things in time, and B) you can spend a lot of time deciding which jam to play next, and then when you do finally decide you are often in a rush to mix it in during the break of the previous song (cuz you're not dealing with identigroove house or techno records which blend seamlessly together regardless of when you mix in) and you don't have time to get the tempo sorted before bringing the next song up in the mix.

Lol that lyrics indeed sound like "gorilla".

Yeah I get what you mean because I've mixed some disco too but it's as if Daniel Wang doesn't bother to mix tightly. I've listened to unknown DJ's who mix disco way tighter than him, although Daniel obviously triumphs in selection and flow.

yeah i think you are right - there are sacrifices made in the mixing dept in the interest of selection, flow, and having a good time. it's tough to party AND mix super tight all the time, haha!

So I wanted to buy this track called "Takin a Chance On You" by Sticky Fingers which is a very great track but it's not available on my country. So I'm asking anyone's kindness to purchase it for me on iTunes then I will pay it via PayPal and you send the tune via email. I'm sorry if this is not allowed or considered rude but I really need this track. Thanks in advance!